The covers: Two to purchase if fortune and glory are your goals. The Regular cover is a beautiful piece by Tommy Lee Edwards showcasing Hondo up high above Black Spire Outpost hugging a tree limb. His coat opens revealing him to have several bags and shiny bobbles, making this the most successful image of the pirate I’ve ever seen. The background is a detailed panorama of the outpost. This is excellent. The Variant cover by Caspar Wijngarrd has the pirate smiling at the reader with his arms crossed, but a blaster evident in his right hand. Behind him is a wanted poster in holograph form. In the distance is one of the outpost’s buildings with two First Order stormtroopers looking about. This captures his personality perfectly and the colors are as true as any from the shows. Overall grades: Both A
The story: Ethan Sacks does a lot in this story to like. He begins with Remex being chased by First Order stormtroopers, only to wind up in the clutches of Varg, Dok-Ondar’s “fixer.” What’s said and done during this confrontation is left unaddressed because the story moves to Oga’s cantina where Kendoh, Remex, and Wooro meet Hondo Ohnaka, whom they hope to hire to get them past the First Order blockade once they make their heist. To prove his skills he tells them the story of how he worked with Dok-Ondar to steal something from Jedha years ago. This adventure in the past is interesting and shows that Hondo could definitely have an entire limited series around his character. How the pair overcome the guards is neat, with the character that is in their path on Page 14 will have fans of Rogue One cheering. The thieves tale ends on a high note and once the present is returned to Kendoh reveals to the pirate what they’ll be transporting. This leads to the reveal of another Star Wars character that left me cheering. Sacks is packing so much Star Wars sweetness into this tale, continuing the arc of the thieves trying to pilfer from Dok-Ondar, the untrustworthy Hondo, a return to Jedha and the popular guard there, and the tease of who will be the focus of next issue. This just made me so happy. Overall grade: A
The art: Will Sliney has created a very believable environment in Black Spire Outpost. Often in science fiction or fantasy books the artist will have the first page full of several characters and settings to create the fantastical locale, but eventually scale back. Sliney doesn’t do that and the reader reaps the rewards of his efforts. The first page has Remex on the run, a terrific setting, and stormtroopers firing at him. Check out that innocent bystander taken down by their blasts in the second panel — excellent! The second page continues the troopers’ pursuit and look at the fantastic point of views in the third and fourth panels. The reveal at the bottom of the page is classic, especially with the closing character’s reaction. Pages 4 and 5 contain a double-paged spread of the interior of Oga’s cantina and it’s spectacular. I particularly like the visual nod to the character in the second panel on the far right. Hondo’s reveal on 6 echos Han’s reveal in A New Hope. Page 9 has an excellent action scene for Hondo showing he’s willing to do whatever it takes to gain the prize. The artifact that Dok-Ondar seeks looks cool on 10. I like the racing down the corridors on 13 with the panels done in a slanting angle to increase the anxiety of the characters’ race. The entrance of their obstacle at the bottom of this page is cinematic and I would hear people cheering at the image that tops 14 if it were in a movie. He action that ends the page is awesome. Hondo’s reaction to the object on the penultimate page is excellent, creating some tension before the character’s reveal on the final page. The character on this looks great and I fully admit to sucking in my breath upon seeing who was with her — he’s right behind her!!! Outstanding job by Sliney. Overall grade: A
The colors: The colors of this book by Dono Sánchez-Almara with Protobunker are also great. Look how the first panel of the book has Remex in darker colors than the background and the other characters, making the reader focus exclusively on him. The second panel has bright gun blasts and sounds to have the reader realize he’sunder fire. The troopers’ armor is gloriously in white with impeccable shines. Notice how the robes of the innocent bystander on the second page draw attention to her. The coloring on 4 and 5 makes Oga’s beautifully spring to life, with the blues being particularly effective for hidden business. Blues are also strong for several items on Jedha, including the background. Hondo’s blast at an obstacle on 14 stands out for the explosion of orange-red behind him. The exteriors of Jedha are a strong contrast to the interiors shown on 16 and 17. Overall grade: A
The letters: VC’s Travis Lanham is the letterer for this issue creating scene settings, dialogue, sounds, alien speech, and yells. I’m not happy with the dialogue, being so thin as to command no power in anyone who employs it; I’ve had this complaint about this font for years. It’s readable but unbecoming for several characters. The scene settings are difficult to make out at times because the way they are colored have them blending in with the settings. Having them atop a white outline doesn’t help. This design for scene settings needs to be dropped from all Star Wars comics. There are several sounds in this issue, which is a step up from other SW titles, and I’m glad that Hondo’s gun got its own unique sound, yet remained somewhat similar to other weapons of its ilk. The alien speech is neat, but I wish that Wooro had his own unique font, because this has been shown to be Ithorian in an earlier issue and he’s not of that species. Overall grade: B
The final line: Pirate Hondo gets the focus with him stealing something from a temple on Jedha. The story is fun, with just so much to enjoy on every page, and the visuals are highly detailed and full of classic action. An absolutely worthy addition to every Star Wars fan’s collection. Overall grade: A-
To order a digital copy go to https://comicstore.marvel.com/Star-Wars-Galaxys-Edge-2019-3-of-5/digital-comic/51690?r=1
To see the covers visit my Instagram account: patrickhayesscifipulse
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